After being rejected by the Confederate military, not realizing it was due to his crucial civilian role, an engineer must single-handedly recapture his beloved locomotive after it is seized ... Read allAfter being rejected by the Confederate military, not realizing it was due to his crucial civilian role, an engineer must single-handedly recapture his beloved locomotive after it is seized by Union spies and return it through enemy lines.After being rejected by the Confederate military, not realizing it was due to his crucial civilian role, an engineer must single-handedly recapture his beloved locomotive after it is seized by Union spies and return it through enemy lines.
- Awards
- 2 wins & 1 nomination
- Her Father
- (as Charles Smith)
- Soldier
- (uncredited)
- Soldier
- (uncredited)
- Raider
- (uncredited)
- Officer
- (uncredited)
- Officer
- (uncredited)
- Raider
- (uncredited)
- Soldier
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe first try at getting the cannonball to shoot out of the cannon into the cab caused the ball to shoot with too much force. To cause it to shoot into the cab of the engine correctly, Buster Keaton had to count out the grains of gunpowder with tweezers.
- GoofsAnnabelle gets drenched when she and Johnnie stop for water, but as they return to the engine, her dress is dry.
- Quotes
Johnnie Gray: [to the recruiter who rejects him] If you lose this war don't blame me.
- Crazy creditsAlthough Buster Keaton is the star of this film, he is listed last in the on-screen credits.
- Alternate versionsIn 2003, 'David H. Shepard' produced 75-minute video version with music by The Alloy Orchestra.
- ConnectionsEdited into The Golden Age of Buster Keaton (1979)
- SoundtracksThe General
Written by William P. Perry
Meanwhile, the Union forces have developed a plan to crush the South that involves stealing Buster's train. Unknown to Buster, his girlfriend is on the train at the time of the theft. Buster starts out in hot pursuit of the thieves to retrieve his train, still without the knowledge of his girl's captivity by the Union army.
Forgotten with the arrival of sound, the film revived - often cut up from its original length - in the 1950's because Buster didn't preserve his rights to the film and it fell into the public domain. That is the reason there are so many versions of The General out there today, often with poor video and hideous musical accompaniment.
Today The General is considered one of the best silent feature length films, and one of the few silent films to not only be on DVD but to get the Blu Ray treatment too. SHERLOCK, JR. is clever. OUR HOSPITALITY is hilarious. The General is both of these things. It's story driven, races to a climax, and is fueled by cute, clever, inventive gags.Buster recycled these gags when he was a writer for MGM years later in "A Southern Yankee".
- AlsExGal
- Mar 26, 2017
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $750,000 (estimated)
- Gross worldwide
- $612
- Runtime1 hour 18 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1